Folding ironing board



Bees 2, 191. PRYNE 2,264,67

FOLDING momma BOARD Filed Dec. 2, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 a n u n INVENTOR. Y fiaz uk Bane,

\ ATTORNEY.

Dec, 2, 3943.

PRYNE FOLDING IRONING BOARD Filed Dec. 2, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F j F. u u {I i J .m m I 0 n 5 1 6T 2 1 w z 1 5 0 1 5 J E F e {116/0 3 L 5 r v 5 J 5 6T 3 8 J INVENT OR. P le,

Patented Dec. 2, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDING IRONING BOARD Ralph Pryne, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application December 2, 1939, Serial No. 307,289

8 Claims.

My invention relates to folding ironing boards or other folding structures and more particularly but not exclusively to that type which is built in the wall of a building structure. One of the objects is to provide improved means for adjusting the elevation of the ironing board when the latter assumes horizontal unfolded or operative position. It has heretofore been necessary to lift the entire load of the ironing board or table by hand when adjusting it in height to accommodate the height of the user and due to its weight this has been found objectionable. This objection is entirely overcome by my improvement, the function of elevating the board after it has been unfolded requiring only a slight vertical reciprocating or pumping action by hand of the outer end of the board which necessitates very little effort by the user.

My invention is applicable to an ironing board or other folding structures in which the article to be used folds into a wall cabinet in the usual manner so that it will be positioned out of the way when not in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved folding support for the ironing board and accompanying sleeve board when the latter is used.

A still further object is the production of improved folding means whereby the mechanism is confined to a cabinet of minimum length and which terminates at a distance above rather than extending down to the floor, thus minimizing the space occupied by the cabinet.

With these and other objects in view, my invention comprises the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the specification following, I have described the application of my invention to a folding ironing board but I wish it to be'understood that the term ironing board is intended to include any type of folding table or support, the inventio being equally applicable thereto.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Fig. 1 is a View showing the improved ironing board and cabinet in elevation with the door of the cabinet open and the board swung into the cabinet ready for either the door to be closed or the ironing board swung outwardly and down into horizontal operative position ready for use; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the ironing board and cabinet on a somewhat reduced scale showing the main ironing board and the sleeve board swung outwardly into horizontal operative position readyfor use: Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a detail of the ironing board cabinet when the ironing board and its accompanying supporting slide are removed; Fig. 4 is a section of the cabinet taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a vertical section of a detail taken on line 55 of Fig. 6, showing portions of the main ironing board and sleeve board in horizontal operative position ready for use, a portion of the ironing board slide being broken away to expose part of the means by which the main ironing board is supported in operative position; Fig. 6 is a. section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the ironing board slide removed from the cabinet when the ironing board bracket is removed and showing the sleeve board in normal position; Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 7, when the sleeve board is folded; Fig. 9 is an enlarged section of a detail taken approximately on the line 99 of Fig. 6 showing the ratchet mechanism of the lifting jack engaged when the ironing board slide is in lowermost position, and Fig. 10 is a view typical of Fig. 9 showing the ironing board slide at increased elevation equal to one of the spaces between a pair of the adjoining ratchet teeth when the ironing board has about reached the end of an elevating stroke which is indicated by the broken line position shown in Fig. 2.

My invention is provided with a shallow vertical cabinet A, which may be formed out of thin sheet metal and is adapted to be incorporated into a side wall of a building structure. This cabinet has the usual door [0 hinged to its side and adapted to swing outwardly in a horizontal plane. The vertical side walls of the cabinet near the back thereof have a pair of inwardly facing vertical channels H and I2, formed by channel members and adjoining one of these channels on the back of the cabinet is a vertical rack l3 having a vertical series of rack teeth [4 which are directed upwardly (see Fig; 3). The channel members and rack are shown formed out of thin metal and secured to the body of the cabinet by spot welding or other suitable means.

The main ironing board B and sleeve board C are hinged to swing in a vertical plane outwardly and downwardly into horizontal operative position and to fold upwardly and back into the cabinet. To hingedly support these boards or tables I provide a vertical slide D (see Figs. '7 and 8), consisting of a rectangular body plate l5 having a pair of vertical flanges It on its opposite ends which engage and slide vertically in the channels I l and I2. Adjoining the opposite ends of the body plate I5 are a pair of forwardly and vertically extending side flange supports H and [8 upon which the ironing board supporting bracket E is hinged or fulcrumed to swing in a vertical plane as will be hereinafter described. At the upper end of the slide is a horizontal hinge l9 to which the butt end of the sleeve board C is secured. This hinge permits the sleeve board to swing up into vertical position and nest in the cabinet when not in use and to swing down and outwardly into horizontal position when used. A strut or brace 23 hinged at H by one end to the lower side of the sleeve board and by its other end slidingly held in a channel support 22 which is secured on the face of the slide permits the sleeve board to swing upwardly into the cabinet and serves to support it in horizontal op; erative position when in use. It is contemplated to employ the main features of the improvements with or. without the use of a sleeve board also to change and modify the construction for hing d y supporting it on the slide as desired.

'Ai; ironing board supporting bracket E is provided which resembles a yoke having an outer circular arc or body 231 and a pair of parallel side bars. 24 and 25. These side bars fit closely between and are pivotally secured between their respective end portions on a horizontal axis at 2 6 to the flange supports I1 and I 8 on the slide. When the supporting bracket E is turned down on its axis with its are end outwardly the ends 21 and 28 of the side bars extend inwardly from the pivots 26 and project through openings 2 9 in the body plate of the supporting slide. D. In this position. their upper edges lodge against the edges of e upp ends o said pe i h limiting the downward movement of the outer end of the ironing board supporting bracket E and supporting the bracket in a horizontal plane as shown in Fig. 5. The supporting bracket E is provided with reinforcing cross arms 30 and a surface plate 3| thereon. The butt end of the, ironing board Bv is secured by a vertical pivot t 3 to he s r at ate. sai ol eing d sposed concentric with the circular are described by the outer end 2 3 of the bracket E so that when the ironin boa d s sw downwar y i to-horizontal operative position it can be swung at any desired angle in a horizontal plane for eder i niut e- A su table re as e Ke e 7eemb s S r r ssed b lt 5 i rn d o, engage the arc end of the yoke in any one of the bolt receiving holes 3 1 (see Fig. 5), to releasably ho d th oa d, on bra etEo at y de i ed e sue l'ar position in a horizontal plane. When the ironing and sleeve boards are turned upwardly into, the cabinet the Supporting slide D is adapted to rest with its lower edge. upon the, pair of stops in the lower endportions of the vertical chan nels II and I2. In this position thev main ironing board is free to swing upwardly fully into the cabinet as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be noted that when the ironing board is swung downwardly out of the, cabinet into horizontal operative position it is firmly supported by the inner ends 21 and 23 of the side arms of the yoke engaging upwardly against the shoulders formed at the upper ends of openings 29 in the slide D. This supporting means is effective and avoids the use of hinged or sliding brackets and legs below the outer projecting portion of the board which have heretofore been used and arein the way of the user. This type of construction also shortens the cabinet struc: ture and enables the cabinet to be confined at a e s m nt ith miracle te th. Y

distance above the floor, thus leaving a free space below for other purposes, which is an advantage.

When the ironing board is in horizontal operative position and it is found that the board is too low for convenient use by a tall person or a person of medium height it is desirable to raise the board sufficiently to accommodate the user. This has heretofore been accomplished by directly lifting the board and supporting it at selected elevation. The weight which is necessary to lift has been found burdensome. This objection is entirely overcome by using the outerend of the board as the power end of a lever and coordinating the work end of this lever with the equivalent of a lifting jack means. In this manner I have produced a simple and effective power multiplying means for raising the board and holding it at any desired elevation.

My improved lifting jack means for raising the ironing board consists of a click pawl F, which m b ief i r ed 2 themes! n 4' o i e ar 2 f th s ppo n bask W means of a pivot 36. This pawl has two arms ng a su tan i ll fight ea l s w t t e pivot located at the apex of the angle. Thearm 31 i e pa l ember nd, he re?! 3 t w 17616356 memb NQl' A P ZY h p w i u g fi d freely by t Piv t th, h tw arm diverging. downwardly at either side of the pivot, The a s i a se ed on he i ne e r ty of the end member 1] in cooperative relation to the vertical rack II; in the back of the cabinet so at h n he ir ning has umm n sk E s me ope tiv PQs i Qn the ower nd. o the p w m b r a t ma ical y i fg fi of the teeth 14 of the rack. Ihe. weight or arrn 38 t e p w arm'31 nt @QWWWTQ cre s m n t h t eth the task. whe t m a d is SW E up and. e mits th paw a m r s ardly r he t e h whe h .1;- er end of the ironing board support is swung down a d urned. n n rmal Pos ti n h when. th mi r o e it the roni ardis ra ed. i to the b ken ine 92 mm shqve is Z. an into the full line position shown in. Ijig. 1o trio. QP QmP slide. 2 i ra sed a l ast l la t9 t ee-sine d seas between two. o the a iagept t et o th A t e. ar e 99; he R 1 5? 3 .9% l fi l l d. t9 t e; 3 .3, 192 .91. ,012 Ct u m ti all nga s: the ested the ack Prevents h s d rom. ia menii aallv ret rn-l mg o nwar lr- The ronin he rd m h b swaps q n' e is sli e in o. hert s l open ai v P s t on a in rea e Elsi ah .qi i i which movement the pawl F sweeps upwardly to n a eme t w th. the. est rack, 299m a o eady to e s miss 112 2 22 24 brack t. E, as: 9 2 5 ZPW EK PX- PP 9X 3 9 229; 12 il Orie ens 9f he beard. 2 and. some}. its. su port. a b ad u t d 29. F2 d 99l elevation. T back stop G ch rese bl s a ein lid; 2W cons sts. o rz are radiat n from the si i a short ransverse. st r 3 which is gumaleq Q 1 lhfihwl Rf 2 39 31? 29%2113. SWQEP. 3P: i dl ev r a d enter in rsaeemea with the e th 0. T eek. 4 hand Leve re eas s! on sai ha t, esieies'iq war lr 29m. no axi o no: S ar th ou h. h su estin a e i nd s sh iea s i9 relea e z y arid emph i al re he ign rm. nto. e gag ment ith do e t fied By swin in the .izeleas Le r 4. pwardl he s o arm. t lsases rmjsk When the supporting slide D has been raised to the desired elevation for convenient use by the reciprocation of the ironing board and it isdesired to release the board into lowered position, the lever arm 4| and board B are swung up by hand so as to disengage the stop G and pawl 31 from the rack teeth, whereupon the slide will lower automatically by dropping in its channels to lowermost position until resting on the stops 35. The reciprocable stroke of the ironing board for adjusting its elevation is comparatively short so that a slight pumping action indicated substantially by the broken line position shown in Fig, 2 is all that is required to raise the board step by step. Also the long power arm of the lever thus afforded by the ironing board and the short work end produced by the work arm 21, provides a powerful lever for the lifting jack action thus requiring very little efiort by the user and avoiding the necessity of directly lifting the entire load of the ironing board and its support by hand in order to increase the elevation of the board. Thus a distinct advantage is attained.

When it is desiredto fold the ironing board entirely into the cabinet the pawl G is disengaged from the rack teeth by swinging the releasing lever M upwardly. The board may then be tilted, and its slide then lowered so that the board will swing into the cabinet. Thus in order to completely fold the ironing board into the cabinet the board is first lowered into lowermost position. The function of the trip 42 is to positively release the pawl F from engagement with the rack teeth immediately after the stop 49 sweeps into engagement with the next. succeeding rack tooth when the ironing board is raised. This is accomplished by the release arm 38 striking the trip 42 automatically as the ironing boar-d swings up and at the extreme lower end of the down stroke of the lower end of the ironing board. The lower end of the pawl arm 3! is rounded as shown in Fig. 9 so as to slide freely forwardly out of engagement with the rack teeth. Thus a step by step lifting jack movement is imparted to the ironing board by the upward reciprocation of its outer end.

While I have specifically described my invention as applied to an ironing board, I wish it understood that my improvements are equally applicable to a folding table, seat or other support as the full equivalent thereof, and where the term ironing board is used in the following claims it is intended to include any other folding article as the full equivalent thereof.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described the principles of operation of my invention together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the construction shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means and applied to uses other than those above set forth within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A folding ironing board, comprising, a cabinet, a slide mounted for vertical adjustment in the cabinet, a support fulcrumecl to swing in a vertical plane on said slide having an inwardly extending lever work arm, an ironing board having its butt end secured to said support whereby the board is adapted to swing therewith outwardly and downwardly into operative horizontal position or fold upwardly into the cabinet, a lifting ratchet in the cabinet having a vertical series of ratchet teeth, a pawl pivoted upon said lever work arm adapted to engage said ratchet teeth when said ironing board and its support are swung upwardly and a releasable back stop carried by said slide and adapted to engage the teeth, of said ratchet to sustain the slide at a predetermined elevation when the ironing board and its support are lowered into operative position.

2. A folding article assembly, comprising, a cabinet, a slide movable vertically in the cabinet, a table structure having its butt end fulcrume-d on said slide to swing outwardly from the cabinet and downwardly into horizontal operative position or fold upwardly into the cabinet, said structure having a work arm projecting from the buttend. thereof into the cabinet, a fixed lifting ratchet in the cabinet having a vertical series of ratchet teeth adjacent to the free end of said work arm, a pawl element movably mounted upon the free end of said work arm adapted to engage said ratchet teeth successively upwardly to elevate said slide and the table structure thereon when the table structure is swung outwardly from the cabinet into operative position and reciprocated, a releasable back stop carried by the slide and adapted to engage the teeth of said ratchet successively to sustain the slide at selected elevation when the table structure is swung outwardly into operative position and reciprocated, and means for releasing said back stop to permit the slide returning to lowermost position.

3. A folding article assembly, comprising, a cabinet, a slide movable vertically in the cabinet, a table structure hinged to reciprocate and swing outwardly in a vertical plane from the cabinet and downwardly into operative position or fold upwardly into the cabinet, said structure having a work arm projecting into the cabinet on its butt end, a lifting ratchet in the cabinet having a vertical series of ratchet teeth adjacent to the inner end ofsaid work arm and said slide, a pawl element mounted upon the free end portion of saidwork arm and engaging said ratchet teeth successively upwardly to raise said slide and the table structure thereon to selected elevation by upward lifting strokes of the outer end of the table structure, a back stop element carried by the slide and releasably engaging the teeth of said ratchet successively upwardly to sustain the slide with the table structure in operative position thereon at selected elevation and means for releasing said back stop element to permit the slide with the table structure thereon returning to lowermost position.

4:. A folding article assembly, comprising, a cabinet, a slide vertically movable in the cabinet, a table structure supported by and fulcrumed to swing outwardly on said slide and having an inwardly extending work arm, a lifting ratchet in the cabinet having an upwardly extending series of ratchet teeth adjacent to the inner end of said work arm, a click pawl pivoted upon said work arm in position to engage said teeth successively upwardly and elevate the slide and the table structure when the outer end portion of the table structure is swung upwardly, a click back stop carried by said slide in position to engage said teeth successively upwardly when the slide is raised and support the slide and table structure at selected elevation on the cabinet, and hand operable means for releasing said back stop from engagement with said teeth to permit the return lowering of the slide and table structure.

5. In a folding article assembly, having a wall cabinet and a reciprocable folding table structure, a slide vertically movable in said cabinet and upon which the table structure is hinged to reciprocate and fold into or extend outwardly from the cabinet, a releasable back stop interposed between the slide and the cabinet for sustainingthe slide when elevated in the cabinet at selected height, and means for increasing the height at which the table structure is sustained in the cabinet after being lowered into substantially horizontal operative position consisting of a pawl carried on a reciproeable inner end portion of and operable by the swinging movement of the table structure, and an upwardly extend-. ing series of rack teeth elements supported by:

said cabinet adjacent to said pawl to cooperate.

therewith, whereby as the outer end of the table structure is reciprocated after being lowered into. operative position the pawl is caused to engage said teeth and raise said slide and table. struc-. ture. successively step by step.

6. A folding ironing board, comprising, a wall cabinet, a slide vertically movable in said cabinet, a supporting frame fulcrumed to swing in a ver-. tical. Plane outwardly from the cabinet on said slide and having an inwardly extending lever work arm, a table having its butt end mounted upon said frame to. swing therewith downwardly into operative horizontal position or fold up: wardly into the cabinet, a rack fixed in the Gabi? n t i g an upw rd y extendin s es o rack teeth e n s. djacen t the inn r ex remity of said lever work arm, a click pawl element, on the inner end of said work arm in position to e age the rack t eth emen s su ce siv l up: wardly when the outer end of the table is recipe a ed v rt y a te be ng l w red nt orizontal operative position, and a releasable back o p ed b t e n h slide an t e tabin t for u a n n he d w h aid. fram and. ab e e e n. e ev ted o iti n a t r a r c pr cation of the outer end of said table.

A qldins she as mbly. compri in a ca inet, a slide reciprocable vertically therein a Shelf i fi l ias d i ut end P9 5 1 l li e l d t d o w e Qutwardly 3. 99 WWI we d i to h r z n a pera i e osit o or iqlti upwardly into the cabinet, and means for adjusting the height at which the shelf structure is supported in its operative position, consisting of a lever work arm extending inwardly from the hinged end of said shelf structure having a pawl structure on its free end, rack teeth elements fixed upon thewall of saidcabinet adjacent to and with which said pawl structure engages to raise said slide by a lifting effort applied to the outer endof said shelf structure and the swinging movement of said lever work arm, and a back stop. structure carried by said slide sweeping into releasable engagement with said teeth as the slide is raised to sustain the. slide in elevated position, and manually operable means for releasing the. back stop structure. from engagement with said teeth.

8. A folding article. assembly, comprising, a cabinet, a slide having a body plate slidable vertically in said cabinet having a pair of vertical side flanges, a shelfi supporting frame. hinged upon said side flanges to. fold upwardly into the cabinet or swing outwardly into. horizontal lowered position and having a pair. of rearwardly extending lever work arms, said body plate having work arm receiving openings through which the said arms are. adapted to engage said plate to support said frame in forwardl extendinghorizontal position when the latter is swung outwardly, upwardly spaced rack teeth in the back of said cabinet adjacent to the inner end of one of said arms, a pivoted click pawl carried by One of said arms adapted to sweep into engagement with said teeth to lift said slide when the free end of said shelf supporting frame is raised from lowered position and adapt d o el ase. r m en ag m n r Said teeth whe sa supp r i am a pr pwardlyv folded position, and a releasable click bac p ivot d pon s id lid and c ing to, engage said teeth and sustain the slide with said frame in elevated position when the slide is s d b the upwar wingin m v o the free. end; oisaid frame,

RALPH E- 

